This post is part of the Friday Q&A section. If you want to ask a question, just write a comment below.
CaptiousNut asks:
I’ve been blogging for 5 years but have never really, until last week, looked into “professional strategies” to increase my traffic. I am using Blogger, and it looks like no one else is using it.
Am I handicapping myself with it?
I have been saying that getting your own domain name is a must for a long time, but many people still ask that question, so let’s talk about it once again. More specifically, let’s list the three main reasons why having and hosting your own domain is important.
1. You don’t really own your Blogger blog.
If you read Blogger’s ToS, you’ll discover that you don’t really own the blog. You do own the content you’ll write there, but the domain and the platform are properties of Google. The first consequence of this if that if you violate any of the service policies your account might get suspended and you’ll lose your hard work.
The second consequence is that you won’t be able to sell your blog, should be become popular and profitable one day.
2. Having your own domain gives you credibility.
Since Blogger is a free platform, you’ll find all sorts of blogs there. Sure, there are some good ones, but the majority is low quality, and you’ll have a lot of spam blogs that are created just to manipulate search engines, too.
As a result most people get suspicious as soon as they see the .blogspot on your domain name. That is why having your own domain will give an immediate dose of credibility to your site.
3. Hosting your own domain gives you more flexibility.
When you host your own domain name you’ll have complete control regarding the software and the setup that will be used there. You’ll be able to use simple HTML pages, to load a CMS like WordPress, to add special scripts and so on.
As your blog grows you’ll find that this flexibility is vital, as it allows you to expand the scope of your site and generate more traffic and money.
Would you add any other reason as to why getting your own domain is vital?
